As cloud data, applications, systems, and infrastructure services have become more ubiquitous, data centers, server farms, and server clusters have correspondingly increased in size and complexity. Data centers, server farms, and server clusters typically consist of thousands of computers, routers, power supplies, and other related equipment mounted on equipment racks. Because of the large number of servers in a typical server farm, hardware failures commonly occur. Server farms often employ backup servers and other equipment for use in the event of a failure to ensure the availability of the services provided by the servers.
Even though system redundancies may be in place, failed equipment must eventually be removed and replaced. In conventional data centers and server farms, this is accomplished manually by a human technician or other personnel. This, in turn, impacts mean-time-to-repair and minimum-time-to-repair metrics of the data center or server farm.
In the realm of computer storage, tape libraries are employed to store large amounts of data. Tape libraries often comprise a plurality of shelves or slots that hold many tape cartridges. Depending on the size of the tape libraries and the type of tape cartridges used, the number of tape cartridges in a single library could range from a few tape cartridges to several thousands. Tape cartridges are sorted and labeled for retrieval individual retrieval when data stored on the tape cartridges need to be accessed. Until this process was automated, tape cartridge placement and retrieval was a manual process performed by a human.
Conventional tape libraries automate this process, using robotic means to retrieve, and replace tape cartridges. This has significantly cut down on the costs of tape library storage, as well as improved access times for accessing data in the tape library. However, the robotic means are typically self-contained within a tape library unit. Each tape library has its own respective robotic means for accessing and managing its respective set of tape cartridges, with no way for a robotic tape cartridge accessing mechanism to access tapes in another tape library unit.
Thus, a way to automate data center management while avoiding the need for manual server farm equipment replacement is provided below.